I Wish
by jk-tb-5-1
Summary: Based on Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods; the five Tracy brothers are unaware of each other apart from a few childhood memories - until the giantess attacks. Scott/Penelope Virgil/Brains John/Kayo
1. Chapter 1

A fresh start and a new day. This time, the Baker, named Scott, was certain, he was going to have some luck. The farmer he dealt with might supply him with more than enough bags of grain, or he'd have enough money to buy some meat for tomorrow-or his wife might be able to confirm she was pregnant.

Any of these were good, but Scott was truly trying his hardest not to lose his temper with his wife. He wanted a child-they'd done all the right things! He'd been everywhere, trying to search for an answer…but none had come.

He sighed, staring at the baby boots lined up by the door. All that remained, remnants from his childhood. He supposed that they had to be his, but why hadn't they burned-like everything else-in his parents' baking accident?

"It's well past dawn." His wife, Penelope, reminded him. "We need to open up."

Sighing as he removed his gaze, he let it in turn linger on his beautiful fair haired wife, and then, like a well-oiled machine-they threw the shutters open, and began their daily work. "I wish…"

The day didn't end when they closed up in the evening. In fact, it had only just begun when the door broke down.

/Line Break/

Not far away, in a far less humble house than that of the Baker's, a young man sweated with the effort of ensuring the fire burned hot enough. With all the overbearing trees on the property, it was always cold, and her ladyship hated the cold. Virgil, his official title being the servant, worked hard to maintain the growing fire, before he was satisfied with his efforts. Storing the coal, he quietly slipped downstairs, and waited for his next instructions from the basement; right now, he needed to polish the silverware-oh, and get his step-sisters ready for the ball tonight.

Her ladyship, Moffie, had two daughters, named ludicrously and with vain airs. There was a ball occurring for three nights, a festival of sorts, so that King Kyrano could find his son and daughter suitors. It was well known throughout the land that Hiram, the younger of the two, was gay, however Moffie refused to believe that, and was certain that one of her daughters-or herself-would turn his eye.

Virgil begged to digress, but he'd be thrown out, or starved, or something.

The problem was that he wanted to meet the Prince; he was desperate. So desperate that he had asked her ladyship if he could go to the ball…to snide remarks and bruises littering his face. "I wish…"

He was desperate…and as the ladies set off in their carriage that night, he decided he'd do what he should have done years ago: hike over the wall and visit his mother's grave under the willow tree.

/Line Break/

"Sell the cow, Jack!"

The words echoed in Gordon's mind. At least, he knew he was called Gordon, but the dame that had taken him in often mistook him for her own dead child and called him Jack. The cow, Milky-White, was the payment.

Someone had deposited the baby Gordon on the doorstep of the farmer and his wife fourteen years ago, and the cow had paid well for his keeping and upbringing. Then the farmer and their own son had died, leaving Gordon with the dame who had never really cared for him and the cow that he loved with all his heart-and now he had to sell the only thing that kept his memory of his parents cool and clear.

Well, he supposed they were his parents. Brown hair, deep dark blue eyes like the bottom of a well. His mother, he supposed, hadn't been in the picture, because there'd been a boy with red hair, and a boy with black hair. Black hair-Gordon called him Will, but he knew that wasn't right-had ridden there on the cow with him, led overall by the one with brown hair, who'd walked the entire way crying. Gordon supposed it was because he'd had to be given away. 'Go on! What do you ask for?'

"No more than five pounds-"

"Less than five! Go on! Get!"

Gordon surmised that it had been fourteen years and his family wasn't going to come back. Therefore, he'd leave the dame to rot in pieces and see if he could find his family instead. "I wish…" that the journey wouldn't be long, that his family would accept him with love and affection…

/Line Break/

Everyone said that he was a doll in his little knitted cloak and hood. He begged to disagree, but there was no one who would cut his hair and the only cast offs he could find were dresses, so a little doll he had to be. He'd lived in the village as long as he could remember, and been in the care of an elderly couple. He couldn't remember his parents; his childhood had been the cloak.

Fishing in his pocket for a coin, he grasped it tightly, and then eyed up the Baker's. Yes; his grandmother lived in the woods, and she was a rubbish cook. He'd need to eat up before he went, starve it out and return to the usual soup and vegetables when he got back.

Unfortunately, Alan could never trust himself around food. "I wish…"

Right, into the woods to grandmother's house.

/Line Break/

Science fascinated Prince Hiram, but his father's ward and his best friend Tanusha, not so much. Where he preferred his books, she preferred her swords. And arrows. And spears. Whatever she could get her hands on. She also had a very interesting way of sneaking up on him, and she knew it made him lose focus.

"What are you reading today, little brother?"

Hiram dropped his book and then, instead of picking it up, frowned and folded his arms. Lady Tanusha copied him with a grin. "You-You know how much I hate you d-doing that."

"It's fun. So?" She leaned down, picking the book off the marble floor and dusting it off meticulously, "what are you reading about?"

"The theory that the sun is the most stationary point in the universe, and we on our planet go around the sun, while the moon goes around us. I wish I could meet the author to discuss this further."

"What's his name? We should just have dad put out a summons for him-J? What? How does anyone publishing a book not use their name?"

Hiram took the book back, cradling it close to his chest. "I wish I knew, but there are millions of names beginning with J. Jeff, Joseph…Jonathan…"

"Joan, Jennifer. What? It could be a girl, that's why it's so mysterious." Tanusha smiled, and patted the book. 'Do you know anything about her?"

"What makes you so sure it's her? It could be him. But I do know that they are in a place where they can see the stars, high up somewhere. A tower, perhaps. They live alone, and they're trapped."

"Trapped?" Tanusha looked interested now. "What do you mean, trapped?"

"There's a passage they wrote: "the vast infinity of the universe can only be seen from a golden cage; outside, free, there is no need to study the stars. Inside, alone, there is nothing else to do"." He sighed. "I feel like that sometimes. Do I really need to attend the ball tonight?"

"You do, little brother. And tomorrow, and the day after. You never know, J might be there. Or a handsome young man to sweep you off your feet!" She danced him around happily. "But I've always wanted to save someone from being trapped. I'll go find this J, whoever they are, and I'll rescue them."

"It could take forever!"

"I have Shadow, and a thirst for adventure. I'll be back before you know it."

So the Lady, clad in her armour, went off into the woods. She'd seen a tower, pointing up amidst ruins, on one of her earlier travels, but hadn't checked it out. That was where she would go first.


	2. Chapter 2

"One midnight gone!" The gleeful cackle startled Scott so much that he nearly lost his nerve. So much had happened today that he'd had no idea he'd wanted to do. The night before he'd been accosted by a fearsome wizard that lived next door, and it had been revealed his parents hadn't died in a baking accident.

Far from it. There was the query of why his mother had wanted beans, precisely, but his father had stolen them for her, aging the wizard significantly. Then there was the question of her having four more children-all scattered now, save the one born at the time of the beans incident. The whereabouts of that brother were very clear.

He'd been able to recall the bright, bean green eyes of a red haired spring infant, bawling his heart out, just before the wizard had laughed and told him: "he's mine now, and you'll never find him!" Scott's heart curled uncomfortably. Those little boots…

The more he wandered the woods, however, the more he found that he could remember his childhood. There had been a lot of walking. His father had gone out with a black haired little boy and a golden haired baby and not come home with them, and wouldn't tell Scott however much he had asked. Then there'd been another golden haired baby, which had served to confuse him, but then he'd disappeared too.

His father had buried their mother under a willow tree, in the woods. Then, receding like a shadow, he had gone out one day and never come home, and little Scott, twelve years old, had fended for himself since.

How he'd forgotten all of that…

Glaring at the spot the wizard had been, he weighed finding his family against his want for a son, and found there was no difference. And then:

"There are giants in the sky!"

/Line Break/

Gordon hadn't quite figured out how to deal with money but he was willing to do what he could to get Milky White back, so five gold coins in exchange for five magic beans. Yeah, that made sense.

Handing them to the man who'd taken the cow, he was confused; where was it? 'At home, with my wife.' Unaware that the cow had gone and run away, and the wife had stopped a young man with golden slippers…in vain.

It was now stories weaved and tangled; but let us focus on their view of each other.

Scott didn't want to break the golden haired child's heart. He didn't want to make him cry, and tell him that his cow might be used as a sacrifice to break the curse to allow him a child. After all, that was all he wanted. He didn't want his family back-his father had split them up for a reason, hadn't he? But the golden haired child looked so familiar that it hurt and Scott was tongue-tied.

Gordon, gazing at Scott and trying to discern if he was pulling the wool over his eyes, found that he looked a lot like the man who had given Milky White-and him-away. "You…you didn't buy the cow back because you'd loaned it to the old woman on the side of the woods, did you?" Scott's pool blue eyes widened slightly.

"We did have a cow, like Milky White. Back when I was very small." They gazed far away. "But he left with it one morning and…never saw it again."

Gordon frowned. "Do you have a brother you never knew about, then?"

Scott wanted the child, not the family. But he knew he was desperate, and selfish, and yet…if this was one of his brothers, then there were more out there. The black haired one who'd gone with him, the little baby golden haired…the red head that the wizard had taken away. He straightened. "I have four, and I think you're one of them."

And Gordon couldn't believe his luck. Although it seemed that fortune favoured him, this reveal left Scott with a decision to make, and he didn't know how to, especially after the raucous day he'd had, and the red cloak now in his bag…

/Line Break/

Alan had at first doubted the man who'd tried to make off with his cloak. That much had been clear. He'd screamed and screamed and stamped on his toe and run away-only to encounter a wolf.

And then he'd gotten to his grandma's house and found her eaten by the wolf, and been eaten himself. Not nice; yet the Baker had been there, and saved them both. So in the end, the cloak had been handed over and Alan had been left at his grandma's feeling strange. The man seemed too young to be his father, but they shared the same deep blue eyes, that was clear enough.

"Are you alright, young man?" His grandma asked, as he stared out at the woods she lived in. He thought he saw a horse riding from left to right, deeper into the forest, but he wasn't sure.

"Yes, grandma.' He replied. "I gave my red cloak to the Baker. He wanted it, for some reason."

"I'll make you a new one from the skins of that wolf. Come on, I'll show you how to be a real hunter, lad."


	3. Chapter 3

Tanusha found the ruins easily. Found the tower, intact. She stared up. She checked every inch of the place with her dark green eyes. Hmm…

"Oh Rapunzel! Let down your hair!" Hidden now, in the bush, she watched a man without any hair call out to the window at the very top of the tower. And, seemingly reluctantly, a large fiery waterfall was hooked over a sharp jut and the rest fell down to the man's waiting hands.

Tanusha gasped involuntarily-thank goodness no one heard-when she saw the face at the window. Deep bean green eyes, focused on the man's progress, and cheekbones that anyone would envy. What caught her most, though, was the way the person in the tower with the long, long red hair-was a boy.

Maybe there was hope for her brother yet.

But…why did the wizard call him Rapunzel?

She wanted answers before she bought him down, gave him a better haircut and presented him at court. So she waited around.

/Line Break/

Virgil's heart was fluttering as he ran. Pursued on horseback for the second night in a row-it was too much! His slippers were coated in mud! The Prince had been smart.

Of course, running once again into the blonde haired woman was a surprise. He tripped, his great bulk slamming into a tree, before falling into the roots below. Almost perfectly timed, he heard the horses stop; the woman answered that they should carry on-he'd headed that way-before the horses moved off and she was helping him out. "Running from the Prince again?"

He gave her a pained smile. "Well…I'm only a servant, and what if he wants to marry royalty?"

"Then tell him who you are! Is it so hard to do? I heard the Prince is lovely-and I've never lied to royalty before. You at least owe it to me to go find him and tell him."

Virgil sighed. "He doesn't want a servant, trust me. The worst part is that he's so into science and physics and complicated stuff-and he waxes poetic about this guy called J who's written a book. I can't compete with that! How could I? His sister's even gone on a quest to find this guy!"

"Two midnights gone!" The wizard yelled at Penelope, "find the cow! Find the hair! And find the slippers!'

Virgil looked confused. "We're undoing a spell." She shrugged. "Your slippers are lovely."

The servant glanced down at the gold shoes. That gave him an idea. Yes, he'd go tomorrow night. And he would leave him a shoe. If the prince was smart, he'd know who to look for. "Thanks, miss! I have to go!"

And get rid of the gold suit, and clean the fireplace out for her ladyship, all before four am.

Penelope yelled something at him, but he didn't quite hear.

/Line Break/

"Rapunzel! Let down your hair!"

A pause. Tanusha hoped it worked; then she got a face full of shiny red hair. Better late than never, and a tight grip. Being pushed out of that window would be rubbish for staying alive.

When she reached the top, she grabbed onto the pike that had been driven into the side. "No, I'm not that bloke, but I'm the King's Ward and a Lady, so either you're going to let me in or I'm going to yank your hair really hard. Got it?"

He was even more dazzling in person. Confused and able to show it, he simply held out his hand and stepped back slightly. "Hi."

"Hey. I'm Lady Kayo." She held out her hand. He kissed it, sending a shock through her system. But immediately, he was pulling his abnormally long hair back inside the tower, and sitting down on the bed. "Usually I get a name back?"

He blinked, bean green eyes round, "oh, sorry. My name is, ah…well, I have two or three, really. The Hood calls me Rapunzel, but when I'm writing and when I was a child I was called John."

"J." Tanusha stated. "You did write those books."

He nodded. "Is this what it's about? You came all the way out here and risked being pushed out of a tower to see whether I'd written the books? How did you…" his voice caught, as if he had trouble breathing. "How did you know I was here?"

"I didn't. Well, here is. My brother, Prince Hiram, is a really big fan of yours. He deduced from your books that you were in a tower somewhere, trapped. I just checked out the first tower I knew about based on his theory about the stars. And I was right. Can I call you John?"

He nodded, experimentally, wringing his hands. "Your brother…he sounds smart. I'm sorry. I haven't had any company other than the Hood for a very long time. It's refreshing, but I don't quite know what to say."

"How about we start with getting you down and us both going to the palace so you can have a right chat with Hiram? I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a festival on to find him a husband, and he's only ever really shown interest in you. So, someone to talk science with."

John blushed. "That's all well and good, but…I can't leave the tower. The Hood-"

"Won't miss you if I tell him you've got a royal summons."

"Miss Kayo, he's a Wizard. Plus…there's no way down except my hair, and I can't leave."

Blinking, because she was, after all, Tanusha, and Kayo was a spur of the moment name, she said: "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." He went back to the window, and began hauling all that hair out. "It's time for you to go."

"I'm not leaving. This Hood guy has you trapped here. That's not right."

He gently shuffled her along. "It's the only life I've ever known, Kayo. Please. Go."

"I'll come back." she said. And she meant it.


	4. Chapter 4

Scott and Penelope cradled the child in their arms. He was perfect, and they'd named him Jeff.

Gordon was wealthy, though he'd lost contact with Scott fairly soon after the entire Wizard getting his youth back. He also had no idea where Scott lived, which kind of sucked.

Virgil melted into the Prince's arms, smiling as the rings were placed on both their fingers. Tanusha looked on, face calm, not betraying the fact that she'd fallen in love with a man who was trapped.

Alan collected bunch after bunch of wild flowers with a new lease in life. He could sell these in the square! His new wolf fur cloak was brilliantly warm as well, and the new dagger his grandma had given him worked wonders when threatening young boys with it.

John stared up at the sky. Bells from a wedding could be heard, and he was listening-a wedding? The Prince that Tanusha had talked about, her brother?

The Hood, stood behind him, sighed, and finished tying the corset-embedded with jewels that he wanted to keep safe-underneath John's tunic. "Come away. There's work to be done." The red head felt that it was unnecessary, since the Hood would never allow John more than five feet away.

John did not stop thinking about the girl who had come to find him, and felt slight resentment to the wizard. For the first time in his life he'd met a girl, and he'd had to turn her down because of him. Her lure of someone to talk to about science had nearly sent him reeling-someone cared? The Hood had always tutted and mused that no one would want to read that nonsense.

/Line Break/

Virgil was there when Tanusha explained about John to Hiram. He wasn't used to sitting so regally next to the Prince and the King, and the King's ward was nothing like his annoying step-sisters. "You were right. I found him, Hiram. Except…he is trapped. He told me about this Wizard who'd cursed his parents and stolen him as a baby."

The King gasped slightly. "The Wizard? You mean the Hood?"

Tanusha nodded. "I never thought he would stoop so low on poor Jeff's sons."

Virgil's curiosity was peaked, though he wanted to be cautious. "Jeff? I knew a man by the name of Jeff. He had five sons."

"Yes. He was a dear friend of mine, a highly skilled Baker. His remaining son, Scott, I believe, married Penelope four years ago, and finally have a son to call their own."

"But what about his other sons?" Virgil immediately realised he'd asked impertinently, and went to excuse himself thoroughly, or just go straight to the basement and starve himself, but the King sighed.

"I was there at every birth, though I never knew their names. All I knew is that soon after the fifth was born, the second was taken by the wizard, and the third and fourth disappeared. The fifth remained in the village, but under the care of others, and Jeff's mother went to live in the woods to be safe from the wizard. He feared for all of them."

Virgil had a distinct feeling he knew…he knew something at least. "Do you know if one of them had brown hair, and deep blue eyes?"

"Scott does, definitely. Shall I summon him for you? He's the village baker now, and very good at his job. Married, too, nicely." Virgil shook his head. He needed time to think about this. "What do you think, Virgil?"

He'd never been asked for his opinion before, and now he wanted to be honest. "I remember their eyes, really. Gazing as they opened them. Green eyes was older than me, and brown eyes was younger, but baby blue eyes was the youngest. Then there was a ride on a white cow, and I ended up at her Ladyship's." he winced at the last bit.

"You…you are one of the brothers?" The King leapt out of his seat, much to their surprise, and laid his hands on Virgil's knees, staring deep into his eyes. "Yes. Of course you are. You are third son, all grown up. To think my son fell in love with one of my best friend's children, without even knowing it! It's fate!"

"You think this boy in the tower could be Virgil's brother?" Tanusha asked, amazed. "But they look so different! He has beautiful bean green eyes, and this waterfall of red hair…Virgil has black hair and brown eyes."

"Bean green eyes, yes. That'll be a result of Lucille eating all of the wizard's greens." The King smiled. "Tanusha, you must go at once and bring him to the castle. How about all of you go; it might be very tricky to convince him. After all, he's spent his whole life trapped there; he must hardly know any different."

The King smiled as they all rushed away; so young, so eager. For a moment he wondered whether he could find the rest of Jeff's sons. They'd been hidden well.

/Line Break/

The giantess had sent all the rest of them back to the woods. Gordon-to run. Alan-to fight. Scott and Penelope, well, to make sure he didn't run off without them. They all met Virgil's party coming the other way.

"Are you here to find the giantess too?" Alan asked brightly. They had actual swords-what he wouldn't give for one of them!

"So you did find your Prince!" Penelope smiled, amazed to find the same boy she'd had to tackle to gain the slippers from. Virgil waved, awkwardly.

"Yes. But we're going to the ruins; there's a wizard keeping my brother hostage there."

The word 'brother' snapped something in Scott's mind-and Virgil's too, at the same time. "I remember you." They said, simultaneously. "You're my brother!"

Tanusha chuckled. "How very funny! Now if only we had the fourth and fifth brothers we could make a full set."

"A…what?" Alan asked, confused.

"Dad had to split us all up for safety after the wizard took the red head." Scott said, "I can't remember anyone's names. But I had red, black, gold and gold."

"I have gold hair." Alan contemplated. "Does that count?"

Both newly united brothers chuckled, and then…

/Line Break/

"We're going away." The Hood told John, frantically packing several things into a battered wicker basket. "Make yourself useful! Pack the necessaries! Not your stupid books!"

A blanket, spare clothes…John, confused, did as he said, and then he watched as the man pried up the floorboard and revealed a staircase leading down to the door. "Wait here."

As soon as he shouted up that the door was blocked-yes, by the poison ivy-John shoved the floor down and pulled the bed over it. Taking the knife the wizard had left behind, he took a deep breath and tied his hair to the ridge for the last time, cutting the rest from his scalp. It left him with two foot long hair, but he didn't mind, and tucked it behind his ears as he grabbed the wicker basket, despite the yelling and thumping, and rushed out of the window. Tugging particularly hard on his hair, it came free, and coiled on the ground. He'd miss the weight of it.

Now, to get away.

He'd run towards the castle, yes. That was where Kayo had said-

He didn't get far. The cliff crumbled around the ruins, and he began to fall...


	5. Chapter 5

Gordon's only thought was to save the random person from falling off a cliff, and he managed to succeed. "Are you mad?" He asked, before realising that he was on the run and this guy looked strong enough to drag him right up to the giantess for his crimes.

The man just looked confused, leaving Gordon to pull him up. "Come on, then! I'm running away from the giantess, so you can come too!"

"Okay."

Just like that, they both ran. Both wanted to escape. Both were very unsure where to go.

/Line Break/

The two parties, of course, as is often the case, eventually ran into each other, but not without meeting others first. Kayo's group came across the harried looking wizard, who glared at them all when they couldn't tell him where his precious son was. They did offer to help him on his way, only to get several clicked fingers and a growl, so Scott let him loose.

Gordon and John came across the Royal party, and the news that the castle was crushed. "And the King?" he asked, hopefully.

"I'm right here, lad. Now, you must be John, am I right?" he nodded, confused as to how the King knew his name. "I was a friend of your father's, lad, don't worry. And who might you be?"

"I'm Gordon, sir." The boy replied. "Please don't turn me into the giantess."

"Of course I won't. I sent a whole party after you, John; it is imperative that you wait here to meet them, understood? They're friendly, don't worry. Hopefully, if I'm right, all five sons of my dear friend will reunite. It's the only way to stop the giant from attacking. Find Scott and Virgil, please."

With that, King Kyrano left John feeling very confused.

They sat down on a rock, and did as the King commanded. They stuck around. And talked.

/Line Break/

Tanusha's party stumbled upon them at long last, after a lengthy plea directed at the giantess. Weary and fearful of her, they'd spread out to search. Unfortunately, by the time they got there…so had the wizard.

He had John by his absurdly long hair. Gordon felt wretched; the wizard was all for handing him over to the giantess and taking off with John, and since discovering that John was really nice and gentle and really just interested in the stars and lately a pretty lady called Tanusha, he really didn't want that to happen.

Tanusha and Virgil had their swords out in seconds. "We don't want any stick." She began, evenly, "but, sir, I think it's best if you let him go."

The wizard narrowed his eyes. Yanking John behind him, he pointed at Gordon-as if that would distract them. "I found the boy the giantess wants! I should get a reward!"

"The King said he wasn't going to turn me in!" the boy wailed. 'Tell them, John!"

John, holding his hair at the scalp so it didn't hurt as much, nodded. "We met the King and he told us to wait here for you to arrive!"

"Yes, he did." Hiram jutted in. "My father has taken a personal interest in the boy you have there. Specifically that he is not to be touched!"

Hiram had never felt so bold in his life, but if this was Virgil's brother and thus his brother-in-law, he needed protecting, and his authority usually worked. "Your father has never held any control over me!"

The wizard snapped his fingers, obviously expecting what he wanted to happen. It didn't. Tanusha was quick, using her well timed jump to slash at the weakest part of the wizard's anatomy: his hand, which was holding John's hair. The man pulled back, barely in time, and some of John's red waterfall fell to the rocky grass beneath. John himself cried out in pain at his head been wrenched backwards, and conveniently tripped up, unused to being outdoors in a place where he hadn't completely memories by six years old.

The wizard let go of him, drawing his own sword. "Let's dance then, Tanusha."

Once Tanusha had managed to lead him away from the dazed man on the floor, Virgil had sprung into action, kneeling by him. "Are you hurt?" he asked, quietly.

John stared at him in surprise, and then the ever beautiful smile, just like their mother's, began to curve on his face. "Virgil?"

The black haired brother smiled, "just how much of us do you remember, big brother? I only found out this morning."

"I remember everyone. Scott, me, Virgil, Gordon, Alan. Mum and dad…Lucille and Jeff." He reeled, sitting up. "It must have been the hit on my head!"

Virgil laughed with him, helping him to his feet for a hug. No sooner had they done that-

A dagger, pulled by the wizard while he had Tanusha pinned. The intention was clear: If I can't have him, no one can. It embedded itself into John's chest, much to everyone's horror. The intense fight was barely legible in their eyes. How could they find their brother, but lose him just as fast? How cruel was luck to give, but instantly take away? Scott felt like crying-he'd had such wicked bad luck. But, to the surprise of the crowd, John didn't keel over. He didn't even notice. "So I'm guessing that you're Prince Hiram?" he asked, of the Prince. "Kayo said you read my books?"

He was too amazed to even think straight; there was an almighty battle cry, and the wizard was dead, a sword in his chest.

There was silence. "Why did you say my name in that list?" Alan piped up, looking at John. "What have I got to do with you? Oh, and there's a dagger in your chest. Can I have it?"

It was clearly news to the red head, and he took it out with a small tug. "Sure. It'll go nicely with your other one, I believe, Alan. Do you…do you remember much about your parents?"

Alan shook his head. "But I know plenty about my grandma. She never talks about them, but she's able to burn cookies. I usually starve when I go to her house!"

"Wait. You're Alan?" Scott asked, in surprise.

There were sudden realisations about the five in their group, and Gordon, who'd stopped feeling wretched now John wasn't in danger and the wizard was dead, explained that he might fit the fourth brother's role.

"Four new brothers-in-law!" Hiram cried finally, because as an only child, he'd found that there'd been no one- "How brilliant! Yes, John, I love you books! I would love to discuss them with you!"

"First thing's first." Tanusha, with a bloody lip and possible a dozen or more bruises, stalked up to the red head she'd gone on a quest to find. She couldn't find the words, with him being so close, so instead she found the hole of the tunic that the dagger had ripped, and tore open the rest.

Jewels embedded into a thick corset. Emeralds, diamonds, gold, silver! "What is this?" She demanded, noticing a small tear where the dagger had tipped, just between two diamonds and under a ruby.

"A corset?" John asked, confused. "I've worn it since I was little. He only put the precious gems in there recently though."

"It saved your life." Tanusha continued, suddenly smiling, her eyes very watery. Penelope felt her heart flutter as the two, already close, lost the gap between them and she viewed this new lady as a possible somewhat sibling-a sister-in-law. "I don't know what I'd have done if he'd have got you."


	6. Last Chapter

Alan hadn't quite understood the notion of he's my brother, he's also my brother, that guy is too, oh, and yeah, he is, and he's the brother in law, and that's my sister in law, and that's another sister in law, and why was everyone related? When the ground shook. "Giantess"

His high pitched yell broke up the cute couples, and Scott gave a loving look to his wife, who still held baby Jeff in her arms. If they survived this-

/Line Break/

A ripple occurred.

The King could feel it. Several more then occurred, and he smiled, stopping in his tracks. It wouldn't matter where he was standing anyway. Five brothers, five thrones. Prince Hiram to guide the way.

After all, the magic within the boys had been festering up until this point, and had grown so very strong, especially in John. The magic beans that the wizard had grown had been fed to Scott, of course, as a dinner one night, and the wizard had known that John would possess some of the magic they held, since he was born at the time. The other three…well, it was there, quietly. Their mother had eaten the beans and become magic; the four brothers of Scott had been born with potent magic.

If all went to plan, everything would be reset. Or, at least, corrected. Step one, the giantess needed to go. Step two, the giant in the field by the woods ought to go too. Number three was to replace the houses of the Kingdom…

The King smiled. Everything happened for a reason.

/Line Break/

Holding hands, the five brothers did exactly that. The magic beans had given them magical power-that was why the wizard had kept them for himself. Knowing that the child born after the beans had been eaten would become a wizard, like him, he'd asked for it, and hidden it away where he could use the boy's power for his own. It was to his knowledge that John was the weakest, yet still the second strongest, out of the five, and activated his and his brothers' powers.

The others could only describe it as a gigantic spell of ripples occurring several at a time.

It fixed the castle. The giantess went back to her own land. And, finally, it brought them to the castle, returning everyone who had been displaced.

The five brothers ended up on their thrones, the rightful Kings.

/Line Break/

Of course, that didn't change the fact that Scott had worked his entire life as a Baker, and John had been locked up in a tower, and Virgil had worked as a servant, and Gordon was a farm boy, and Alan was quite old enough to understand why he couldn't wear his wolf-skin cloak anymore. Hiram and Tanusha, more schooled in the royal politics, had a long way to go before the Kings were truly ready to rule.

Once or twice in the long run, they found the boys in the oddest of places. Despite being needed in the Courtroom, they found Scott in the kitchen, instructing the cooks on how to do Penelope-now Lady Penelope's-favourite sweet loaf. Gordon was nearly always in the stables with the horses or bathing in the lake, despite having actual bathtubs for that sort of thing.

There was a strange incident involving Hiram finding Virgil polishing the castle's entire collection of silverware, which was an effort that took ten days in total.

And then there was Alan getting lost at one point and finding a secret passageway behind the great portrait of a white unicorn.

However, Tanusha always seemed to find John-and she had a knack for doing so-in his observatory tower room, which overlooked the kingdom. On a sunny day he could see his old tower, nestled in the woods. He'd have a far off look in his face, and a small voice when he'd tell her: "I wish…"

She didn't know what he wished for.


End file.
